Karl Marx famously wrote: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.”

Some 806 years after the calamitous Children’s Crusade inspired by Stephen of Cloyes et al., the “March for Our Lives” movement is a reprisal of that hapless enterprise.

Filled with the pablum of liberal ideology, David Hogg assumes the role of Stephen of Cloyes. The bête noire, the NRA. Who then is it vitiating the movement?

Who are those seeking to gain from the naiveté of today’s crusaders? With reports of Planned Parenthood as a financial supporter, it cinctures Marx’s aphorism.

The trenchant question then is do we truly “not want any more kids to die”?

— Patrick Merrill, Riverside

Contact information for donations to veterans

Re “I haven’t had a place to call home” (April 2):

As a board member of the Redlands Charitable Resources Coalition, Inc., I see this as a wonderful thing for our vets, something we so lack in Redlands. But your newspaper failed to provide any contact information. For those who might be interested, contact Alberto Rivera, outreach coordinator, (951) 999-9118 or (951) 269-1119.

The community is encouraged to donate supplies or money, or to provide meals for the veterans through a “veterans guest chef program.” For the chef program, contact Eddie Estrada, (951) 212-0277.

Also, Deseret Industries (an outreach of the LDS Church) offers grants to qualified people for anything pertaining to things needed for an apartment (beds, chairs, tables, dishes, bed linens, etc.). The application form is available on rcrchelp.com (scroll down to the housing section).

Every day, 11 kids are killed while texting and driving. Maybe we should raise the age of owning a smartphone to 21. Oh, wait, they own smartphones, but not guns.

— Tom Knowles, La Verne

A great revelationrnThe greatest revelation I ever had was when I started my own business. I found out that I was just as smart as anybody I had ever worked for. Oh, I also found out that I wasn’t a Democrat.